Maintaining Your Boiler for Better Home Comfort

Just like any of your other household appliances, if not more so, your boiler needs to be routinely maintained in order to stay running in its top condition for as long as it can. This includes some general maintenance work you can do throughout the year, but you should also schedule regular yearly maintenance to be done by one of our local professionals, who have been trained to know what problems to look for and to fix in your residential boiler system. Eventually, but hopefully not too soon if you are taking good care of it, your boiler will need to be replaced, which presents new opportunities to increase your energy savings for you and your family if you purchase a newer, more energy efficient boiler.

General Maintenance

Throughout the year, there are several things you can do to check on and take care of your boiler that will increase its efficiency while you wait for its yearly checkup. Keeping the area around your boiler clean is one of the easiest things you can do to keep your boiler running healthily. Avoid packing miscellaneous items around your boiler, so it has plenty of airflow and does not become overheated. This will also allow it to be easily accessible if a need ever arises. You should also dust and sweep the area around your boiler frequently throughout the year, as dust build up in the boiler can lead to clogs that will lower its efficiency. Another easy way to keep you and your family safe while also making sure your boiler is working properly is to install a carbon monoxide detector in the vicinity of your boiler. As long as you test the detector and make sure the batteries are charged, it will let you know if your boiler starts leaking, in which case, exit your home and call one of our professionals to come fix it right away. 

Yearly Maintenance

Beyond the regular maintenance that can be done throughout the year, it is important to have a professional service provider come to check your boiler for any potential problems that will need more specialized repair. They will be able to check for leaks that could become worse and spill carbon monoxide into your home, and they will check your pipes to see if they have become clogged and, if so, clean them. It is a good idea to have this check once a year by a professional just to know that your boiler is still in proper working condition. Without these check ups, you may end up living with an inefficient boiler for a long period of time, costing you extra money on your energy bills. 

Replacement

If your boiler has gone a long time without any maintenance or if it is just nearing the end of its natural life, you may have to replace it with a new model. It is important to replace it sooner than later, or else you will not have the energy efficiency to properly heat your home without raising your heating costs substantially. Call our representatives to come look at your boiler to find out if it warrants a replacement.

Easy Ways of Creating Energy Savings

With energy costs as high as they are, more and more people are looking for ways to save money on their heating and cooling costs. While there are big and expensive options out there that provide a lot of energy savings, like installing solar panels or a geothermal heating system, such things are out of the financial reach of many individuals, who are just looking for easy, inexpensive methods to lower their energy costs. Thankfully, there are several cheaper methods in existence. Here are a few that are simple, cheep, and can save you noticeable amounts of money on your heating and cooling bills. 

Programmable Thermostats

The beauty of programmable thermostats is that they do not require constant updates to maintain an energy efficient environment in your home. Other thermostats need to be manually adjusted any time you want to turn the heat up or down, which, when done properly, can save you a lot of money on unnecessary energy costs. Generally, when you are not home, you should turn down your thermostat so your furnace is not using up fuel to heat an empty home. You can do this with a traditional dial thermostat or a manual digital thermostat, but a programmable one will allow you to program the temperature changes into the system itself, so you do not have to worry about forgetting to turn down the temperature before you leave. It does all the work for you, based around your schedule. As you will see, the cost of installing a programmable thermostat is small compared to the energy savings you will gain.

Furnace Upkeep

Another thing you can do to help save money over the year is to regularly maintain the area around your furnace. Do not allow clutter to build up around your furnace, even though it may seem like an ideal place to store rarely used items. Clutter will reduce airflow and increase the amount of dust that collects near your heater, which can cause it to operate inefficiently. Check and replace your air filter often. You will be surprised at how much more energy efficient your home will become when you have a fresh air filter installed in your furnace. Such air filters only cost between ten and twenty dollars at most stores, and only need to be changed once every three months. Just make sure you know what size filter you need for your furnace before going to the store. The old filter will usually have the size printed on it, or you can look in your furnace manual for the information.

Sealing Your Home

To increase the energy efficiency of your home even more, you should consider checking your doors and windows for leaks that may be letting hot or cold air, depending on the season, out of your home, wasting the fuel used to heat or cool that air. One way to check for leaks is to light a match and watch the smoke to see if there is any air flow going through cracks in your door or window frames. If there are, you can buy many inexpensive products on the market that will limit the flow of air through those cracks or just eliminate them entirely, saving your heating and cooling systems from doing extra work with no pay off.

Improving Indoor Air Quality for winter

During the summer it is easy to get fresh air into a home simply by opening windows and doors, but during the winter most of us don't want to waste heat in this way, especially as energy prices are already so high. This can often mean that indoor air quality suffers during the winter months. So if increasing ventilation during the colder months isn't an option, then what other ways are there to improve indoor air-quality? The answer is quite a few, and it is well worth looking into ways to make sure the air is as fresh as it can be during these months. It can help improve health, especially if some of the home's occupants suffer from asthma or allergies, and can generally make you feel better.

Improving Indoor Air Quality through the Use of Air Cleaners

Air cleaners are designed to collect particles from indoor air, and some are more efficient than others. Many homes are contaminated with dust, mold, pet dander and pollen, and most people will benefit from cleaner air. You can purchase tabletop models, or can choose to have a whole house system. Some of the more sophisticated models are extremely effective at removing particles, while you might find that some of the cheaper tabletop systems are a lot less efficient. Air cleaners use sophisticated filters to trap particles by drawing in air through the filter before recirculating it into the room or house. The effectiveness of an air cleaner depends on the type of filter, and the rate at which it draws the air through the system. These types of air cleaners cannot reduce the levels of pollutants such as radon.

Improving Indoor Air Quality through Duct Cleaning

Air ducts are the perfect place for particles of dust and dirt to become trapped and regular duct cleaning is essential to prevent these pollutants from being released back into the home. Duct cleaning is necessary if your home is heated by forced air, and involves cleaning not only the air ducts, but also all the other components of a heating and cooling system. This is because it's pointless just to clean the air ducts, as otherwise once the system is turned back on all the dust and dirt will simply be recirculated through the complete system. It's probably not something that needs to be done every year, but it is worth checking every so often to make sure the ducts aren't looking too grubby. It might be worth doing if you've noticed anyone in your household suffering from allergies, or if you've noticed any unexplained illnesses. It is something that should be done by a specialist, and sometimes it may be necessary to use chemicals to control any mold growth that may have occurred.

Ventilation in a Home

Although it is tempting to try to seal your home up as tightly as possible, especially with the current high energy prices, all homes need a little bit of ventilation to ensure home comfort. If there is no fresh air entering the home then the likelihood is that pollutants will accumulate. Forced air heating and cooling systems don't bring in fresh air, so it's essential to make sure you have sufficient ventilation in areas such as bathrooms, kitchens and for places where there are sources of heat such as for fuel-burning appliances and tumble dryers.

Ignore That Fall Furnace Tune Up at your Peril

It is all too easy to forget about booking that fall furnace tune up, but the consequences could prove to be costly. It really doesn't take long to arrange an appointment from a properly qualified service technician before winter gets a grip. The beauty of doing this is that any furnace repair issues will be detected before they can cause problems, and before they can evolve into much more expensive repairs. Annual maintenance really is the best way to avoid the need for emergency repairs. Warranties often stipulate manufacturer required maintenance schedules as a condition of the warranty. Many furnace repair problems are able to be fixed there and then, but if the technician is unable to repair it straightaway then another appointment can be made at a time that is convenient to you. This has to be a lot better than being faced with a boiler or furnace that breaks down at some inconvenient time.

Preventative Measures Leads to Greater Energy Savings

Very few people have the money to waste on today's energy prices, so anything that leads to energy savings has to be worth careful consideration. Regular maintenance can lead to greater energy efficiency, as qualified technicians will be checking to make sure all the parts work correctly, and can replace any filters or can carry out duct cleaning. All these things will keep heat pumps and furnaces and boilers working smoothly, and will also help maintain indoor air quality. This is particularly important during the winter months when most homes don't have as much natural ventilation as during the summer months when everybody tends to have more windows and doors open.

Replacing Inefficient Boilers with Energy-Saving Models

Although regular maintenance can do a lot to prolong the life of a furnace, all heating systems do have a limited life expectancy. If yours has spent the last few years making strange noises, and you know it is nearing the end of its useful life then it may pay to invest in a more energy efficient model before winter really sets in. It's something a good heating technician or furnace sales showroom can advise you on, as there really are a lot of different types to choose from. It is important to choose correctly as a new system has to be able to work in your existing environment, for instance, it may need to function with existing ductwork. This may mean that your home requires a certain modifications during installation to ensure the equipment works properly. Obviously it's essential to choose a top quality dealer who is able to give you the proper advice and furnace sales after care service.

Today's Furnaces Are so Much More Efficient

If you do need to replace an older furnace then it's almost certain to be at least 10 years old, and technology has improved greatly in the last few years. You may find you are able to replace your older furnace with something smaller due to increased efficiency. Older furnaces tend to have an efficiency rating of 55% or even lower, while today's newer furnaces can be up to 90% efficient, ensuring the heat produced is actually vented into your home and not the surrounding environment.